Angus Hyland

The Book of the Raven - Corvids in Art & Legend by Caroline Roberts and Angus Hyland is a beautiful collection of artwork, poetry and short chapters about corvids and ravens in art and legend.

Beginning with an introduction and first chapter written by Chris Skaife, Ravenmaster, HM Tower of London was a master stroke. You might remember I thoroughly enjoyed his memoir The Ravenmaster - My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London.

If you're not terribly knowledgeable about birds, corvids include crows, ravens, rooks and magpies; although technically not Australian magpies, due to a lack of nasal bristles.

"When ravens get together it's an unkindness, but get a bunch of crows together and it's murder..." Page 109

I enjoyed learning more about corvids and their appearance in art and literature across time, with some memorable mentions including: Charles Dickens and his beloved raven Grip; The Lord of the Rings; Edgar Allan Poe and his famous poem The Raven; Alfred Hitchcock; the curse of The Crow movie; of course the Brothers Grimm; and A Game of Thrones.

"It may come as a surprise, especially given the often fairly dark myths that surround them, that ravens are very playful creatures, having fun with their fellow birds or sometimes just amusing themselves." Page 79

I mean, who hasn't seen the footage of a raven sliding down a rooftop on a piece of plastic over and over?

While enjoying the gothic graphics and moody artworks included, I was frustrated many times trying to locate the applicable captions, concluding that many of the pages lack adequate credits. This is a real shame for those artists lucky enough to have their artworks included in this collection.

"Ravens have a long association with both war and death - they are carrion birds, often picking over the remains after battles had taken place. The Vikings considered a croaking raven outside a house to be a warning of the imminent death of its occupant." Page 98

The author goes on to explain that Viking raiders used ravens to help find land, inspiring the raven banner flown by Viking warlords. These banners remained in use long after the Vikings had departed and can be seen in two panels of the Bayeux Tapestry. Fascinating!

My reading highlight enjoying The Book of the Raven was without a doubt reading The Raven poem by Edgar Allen Poe aloud at home for my husband. Having only read it to myself in the past, I have renewed respect and appreciation for the rhythm of the language and complexity of the lines, in the same way I enjoy the lyrics of The Phantom of the Opera.

Presented in an A5 sized softcover, I dearly wish Caroline Roberts and Angus Hyland were given more scope to expand this collection and delve deeper into the historical significance in the way author Michel Pastoureau was able to in Black - The History of a Color.

Conceived and designed by Angus Hyland and written by Caroline Roberts, The Book of the Raven - Corvids in Art & Legend was an enjoyable read and also the first book I've read from my 8 Books on my TBR with Birds on the Cover post, earlier this year.

If you'd like a sneak peak at the artwork inside, you can do so via the author's design studio website Pentagram. Enjoy!… (más)

I received this as a birthday gift from someone who knows me well. It's a beautiful little art book to page through, sprinkled with notes about some the featured artists and also fun little observations about dogs and specific breeds. My favorite painting of the collection was called Dog, by Mary Anne Aytoun-Ellis. That said, I enjoyed all the drawings and paintings, and I was surprised by how many contemporary artists were included in the collection. Much of the artwork was from the past 10 years.
It's a lovely collection and the perfect gift for a dog lover.… (más)

I can only say pretty much what I said about Hyland's other book, "The Book of the Bird." Eclectic, wide-ranging, lovely and charming, chock full of images of dogs from classic paintings to contemporary design, selected with a discerning and unique eye. Sighthound lovers in particular will find much to savor - whippets, lurchers, greyhounds abound, and why not? What could be more elegant to an artist? (Disclaimer: I'm an Italian Greyhound person, and would kill for Pieter Pander's Whippet on a Table). Delightful book for lovers of dogs and art. Props to Hyland for including contemporary artists whose art is available and affordable - I bought a chickadee painting from someone in the Birds volume, and a cat etching (hey, I like cats too) from an artist in this one. Enjoy!… (más)

The cover grabbed me instantly: a portly, self-important magpie with an elegant, thick sweep of a tail in a single sure-handed brushstroke. This is an entirely idiosyncratic collection of painted birds, assembled by two authors identified in the book by only their names. One of them, Angus Hyland, is a well-known British graphic designer, so it's no surprise that what you get is an eclectic grab-bag of images chosen perhaps for nothing other than how their look strikes this one very keen eye. And they are gorgeous: sparkling, rich, varied, from the 17th to the 21st century, from world-famous museum pieces like Fabritius's Goldfinch to Andrea Moulton's completely charming oil and watercolor sketches you can buy online for $100 (in fact, I loved these so much I bought one from the artist). Some of them include brief descriptions of the art and the artist, as in a traditional art historical-type volume, others accompany a line or two in varying fonts like a cryptic poem, others just fill a page spread on their own. Crows and ravens abound in an array of inky, shimmering, clouded or impenetrable blacks. But they never lose sight of the birds themselves: birders will smile in recognition of the cheeky wrens and bluebirds, the regal falcons and hawks, the pert robins, and solemn herons - each artist has left the bird to its own character and "jizz." Each page is a pleasurable surprise. Not scholarly, not bird-in-your-garden postcards, not a field guide. Just turn each page and look.… (más)